Les Femmes s’Animent Reveals Sponsors for Franco-African Mentorship

Les Femmes s’Animent (LFA) has unveiled the sponsors for A Woman’s Journey (Parcours de Femmes), its mentoring program for women from France and Africa who want to create short animated films.

Netflix, Canal+, France Télévisions, Newen Studios Group, CITIA, the French Ministry of Culture, Region Réunion and the French Embassy of Benin have pledged their support for the program. The first edition has helped six teams develop film projects, which will be presented at this year’s Annecy Festival.

The program consists of three masterclasses provided by Anca Damian (directing and writing a short film), Corinne Destombes (producing a short film) and Lucie Walker (copyright), as well as remote coaching sessions with mentors throughout the project. The mentorees will travel to Annecy, where they will receive coaching from Ucka Ludovic Ilolo before presenting their project to international professionals.

Three of the teams from the first edition are from France (Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Réunion, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), and three are from Africa (Benin, Gabon/Niger, Ivory Coast). It is the first LFA project to extend beyond France. The broad geographical remit was inspired by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi’s Manifesto for a Feminist Education.

“At Netflix, we are fully committed to ensuring that women are represented in the entertainment industry, both behind and on-screen,” said ​Lorraine Sullivan, manager of Grow Creative for Netflix France. “This is why our partnership with LFA, advocating for more women creatives in animation in France and Africa, is a project that we fully support.”

Audrey Brugere, head of kids’ programs at Canal+, commented, “Canal+ is very proud to support LFA’s great initiative, A Woman’s Journey. We are happy to provide an opportunity to women who, without this mentoring, would not have had access to this industry. Moreover, we are convinced that the mix of the teams allows for even richer and more creative content.”

“France Télévisions is proud to join this first edition of A Woman’s Journey alongside LFA,” Pierre Siracusa, director of animation at France Télévisions, stated. “This initiative is part of our proactive policy of encouraging the emergence of new female talent in audiovisual production and the diversity of talent in the cultural industry.”

Olivier Lelardoux, CEO of Blue Spirit (Newen Studios Group), said, “Newen Studios and Blue Spirit are committed to inspiring and supporting all talent through their studios and their productions. In order to highlight the richness and diversity of female talent in the French-speaking world, we are pleased to support A Woman’s Journey alongside partners who share the same values ​​of equality and excellence in the creative process.”

“This exciting extension of our popular mentoring program is designed to give a voice to women we don’t often hear from,” added Eleanor Coleman, LFA co-founder. “The support from our sponsors has been incredible and we are thrilled to provide concrete training and opportunity for women who are underrepresented in our industry.”

Coleman co-founded LFA with Corinne Kouper, co-founder and senior VP of development and production at TeamTO, and Delphine Nicolini, an artistic producer.